Allan McGregor’s successor at Ibrox will be an interesting one, but Rangers should keep Livingston’s Liam Kelly in mind.
The man who left them in the summer continues to impress in West Lothian. Yet another sensational display this afternoon against Celtic was a key reason why Rangers are now within two points of Brendan Rodgers’ men.
Rangers don’t exactly need introduced to Kelly. He was at the club for five years in their youth system before signing for Livi before the new season.
This term, Kelly has now managed a fantastic 10 clean sheets in 17 appearances. Two of those clean sheets have now been against Rangers and Celtic respectively. That would be an impressive record at either of the Old Firm, nevermind a side such as Livi.
Despite never making appearance in the top team at Ibrox, Kelly is seriously looking the part in West Lothian. His distribution is very impressive under pressure also, something Rangers have struggled with in the past.
No second season syndrome
This is now his second season at Livingston after spending a year there on loan in 2016-17. Out of his 40 appearances in Scottish League One, he managed just 13 clean sheets. That shows such a massive improvement in his game over the last couple of seasons.
He made the brave decision to leave what would’ve been a relatively comfortable position at Rangers. Playing for Graeme Murty’s youngsters is a huge difference from playing first-team football at any Premiership side.
Rangers also shouldn’t go for Kelly anytime soon. He deserves time to build up a reputation of success at Livingston, and deserves the time to enjoy his first-team football.
There will come a stage, however, when McGregor will be forced to move on from Glasgow. As it stands, Rangers have Wes Foderingham in reserve and Jak Alnwick out on loan, so they’re well stocked for now.
Kelly will continue to prosper this season and keep his form under the radar in West Lothian. There’s no denying, however, that he could have “Future Rangers number 1” written all over him.
He has the talent, composure, and future ahead of him to be just that.
For now, he’ll be enjoying his time a little more east of Ibrox. In the future, however, there could be much bigger things for him back at his old home.
